We’ve been looking at many commercials that have strange twists on girl power and examining what they are projecting as the ideal women. But we have been completely ignoring the man-mercials out there! It seems like most of the new macho-resurgence commercials drill into our heads what a “man” is supposed to be… which can be pretty damaging to those men out there that do not live up to the image portrayed in the media. I’m putting up two of my favorites; Old Spice Manly Test, and a Full Throttle Energy Drink ad. Both of them suggest that real men have to do certain things, such as have hairy chests, “do recon work”, and drive monster trucks through suburbia.

These ridiculous expectations for what constitutes a man probably ensure that plenty of guys out there are taking a hit to their self-esteem. This is especially true because most of these commercials run during sports games, where athletes that are often the pinnacle of “male perfection” are on display in front of average joes. It is no small wonder why these manly ads run most often during the SuperBowl or other testosterone-fueled events; ad companies are relying on average, everyday men who feel threatened by the portrayal of perfect male specimens on their screen to look towards their products as a way of boosting their own manliness.

In light of the post about how female characters in many of the movies we’ve seen (e.g. Tess and Katherine in Working Girl) and female celebrities (e.g. Jennifer Hudson and Beyonce) are always pitted against each other, and how there’s this sort of perverse obsession with ‘catfights’ that’s related somehow, I thought this article from the New York Times was interesting: Wives United by Husbands’ Post-N.F.L. Trauma

The article talks about how a lot of former NFL players, including some Hall of Famers, end up with dementia as a result of the head trauma from playing pro football. The main focus is on how the wives of these men have created an informal network to help each other deal with these tough times, which can include financial instability, and so many of the women have to go back to work. I just thought it was interesting that the New York Times would go for this female spin on the issue (more…)